photo: Miguel Hernandez (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
At .404 (21-31), the rookie-level Cardinals Florida Complex League club posted their seventh consecutive losing season. On the young roster, the hitters struggled more than the pitchers compared to the league. Infield prospect Miguel Hernandez received FCL All-Star honors.
The Florida Complex League Cardinals concluded 2026 at 21-31 (.404), in fourth place in the five-team East Division and fourth-worst mark in the 15-team rookie league. It is the seventh consecutive season they posted a losing record and seventh consecutive non-playoff outcome. It was a minor backslide from their 2025 results, which included a .436 record and the same fourth-place division finish.
The rookie-level Cards ended the 2026 season 20 1/2 games behind first place Houston, compared to “just” 14 games behind the same division winner in 2025.
This summer’s Cards finished just above .500 on the road (15-14, .517) but far below .500 while at home (9-17 .346). As one might expect, they experienced a more difficult time facing opponents with winning records, with a subpar 10-18 (.357) record.
The FCL Cards were a dismal 0-7 in their extra-inning contests in 2026 and were not much better in one-run games at 4-10 (.400). They especially struggled against right-handed pitching, going just 19-28 (.404) in those starts, and were 2-3 versus lefty starters.
The planned 56-game schedule opened on May 2 and concluded on July 23, with four cancelations. The Cards began the season with five losses in their first eight despite what would be their season-high three-game winning streak in the first week.
Over the first month, they stumbled to a 6-14 mark, including their season long six-game losing skid. July was only slightly better as they went 7-11 including a five-game losing streak. The Cardinals finished relatively better, going 8-6 in July.
On the surface, hitting and pitching appeared to be relatively balanced, as evidenced by their run differential of -1 for the season (276 scored vs. 277 allowed). However, that is misleading. As you will see below, the offense performed comparatively better than the pitching.
Willi Martin was the new manager for 2026, assisted by Gary Kendall (bench), Dernier Orozco (pitching), Erick Almonte and Jordan Hara (hitting) and Luis Cruz (assistant). The roster was made up primarily of recent graduates of the Cardinals Dominican academy.
Offense
The Cards tied Boston for the fourth-youngest offense in the FCL at an average age of 19.0 years. In comparison, the league offenses ranged from 18.7 to 20.4 years old with the average age of 19.4.
Statistically, the performance of the 2026 Cardinals offense was considerably below league average.
The Cardinals were 11th of 15 FCL offenses in runs scored (278). They were a distant 14th in batting average (.227) and on-base percentage (.350). They were 10th in slugging at .373 (third) and 13th in OPS (.829).
The FCL Cards were eighth with 73 doubles and tied for ninth with 35 home runs.
They were laggards on the bases. The Cardinals placed 13th with 93 steals. The league leading Red Sox swiped 238! Cardinal baserunners were caught 25 times for a decent success rate of 78.8%.
Strikeouts were a major plus for Cards hitters as they were punched out 392 times, tied for second fewest in the league. They were quite a bit below average at taking walks, however. Their total of 240 was third fewest in the league.
Pitching
At an average of 20.7 years of age, Cardinals pitching was tied for the seventh youngest staff in the FCL. In other words, it was right in the middle. The league ranged from the low of 20.1 to the high of 23.1 and averaged 21.1.
As a group, the Cardinals’ staff was as average as average could be. Their collective 5.75 ERA, ranked ninth, was right on top of the league average ERA of 5.76.
Cardinals hurlers were 13th in strikeouts (415) but more positively, they tied with another staff for the fifth fewest walks issued (262). Their strikeout to walk ratio of 1.58 is ninth.
One problem was hits against them, starting with big ones. With 47 long balls allowed, Cardinals pitching tied for fifth most balls leaving the park.
Furthering the point, their batting average against of .265 was second highest in the FCL.
The starters were seventh with an ERA of 5.27, but were 10th in WHIP, at 1.57. They tied for the 10th lowest batting average against at .259. Because they don’t often go five innings (averaging under three innings per start), FCL Cardinals starters won just one game all season (against 14 losses).
The bullpen was worse than the rotations. The relievers’ aggregate ERA of 6.04 was 10th in the league. Their WHIP was ninth at 1.78, though they issued the fifth fewest free passes (179). A greater contributor to the traffic on the bases was that the bullpen yielded a batting average against of .268, second highest in the 15-team league.
Defense
The 2026 Cardinals defense was above league average – at least in terms of errors (58, T-third fewest) and with a collective .963 fielding percentage (third highest).
On another positive note, the catchers tied for fourth highest in the FCL with a 22% caught stealing rate (29 of 134).
Large but relative static roster
With a roster that was usually approaching its 35-player maximum, Martin had to be challenged by getting everyone regular action. At least, the roster was quite static. Just 14 different position players took the field for the 2026 FCL Cardinals, plus 11 rehabbers from higher levels, who took anywhere from four to 18 plate appearances each.
The pitching side was far busier with 33 individuals logging mound time in 2026. Fourteen of the 33 threw 5 1/3 or fewer innings as rehabbers from above, leaving 19 as regulars with the FCL Cards.
Transactions
Only two players appeared on the 60-day injured list and both were activated during the season. First on July 10 was Jefferson Moran, followed by Alan Reyes coming off the IL eight days later. Reiner Lopez spent 2026 on the full-season injured list.
No players were placed on the regular seven-day IL all season long, a common situation in the FCL.
The day after the season concluded, on July 24, right-handed pitcher Alejandro Loaiza, lefty Yordy Herrera and outfielder Andru Arthur were released.
There were two in-season promotions of DSL players upward to the Florida Complex League. On July 8, left-handed starting pitcher Hendrick Caña and infielder Yeferson Portolatin shifted to Jupiter. Caña then pitched in three FCL games and concluded with a long relief outing with Palm Beach. Portolatin impressed in his 10 FCL contests, with a .992 OPS.
As the schedule concluded, infielder/outfielder Jesus Perez and catcher Sebastian Rojas were also promoted to the FCL in preparation for 2027. A month later, 2026 top international signing Emanuel Luna and shortstop Carlos Carrion followed them.
By my rough count, at least 16 FCL Cardinals players were promoted to Low-A Palm Beach during the season. They include prospects Payton Graham (May 18), Xavier Cruz (June 2), Sebastian Dos Santos (June 16), Miguel Hernandez and Cristofer Lebron (July 29) and Kenly Hunter (September 4).
Others from higher levels briefly rehabbed in the FCL, including Tai Peete, Yairo Padilla, Michael Dattalo, Ian Petrutz, Chase Davis and Deniel Ortiz.
Former top pitching prospect Tink Hence was sent down to the FCL from Memphis on April 30 but did not pitch in game action. He returned to Triple-A on June 2, but after struggling again, he was removed from the Cardinals 40-man roster on August 6 and returned to the FCL. At that point, his season was over.
Most of the Cardinals’ signed draft picks and four non-drafted free agents were initially assigned to the FCL, though they didn’t play there. First rounder Trent Condon spent a month on the FCL roster but did not appear in games (since the season was over), before moving up to Palm Beach on August 18. The outfielder made his professional debut with the Beach Birds.
While promotions are what minor league ball is about, there seems no doubt that the 2026 FCL Cardinals club lost more talent during the season than was brought in.
FCL All-Star
Though Miguel Hernandez was promoted upward at the end of July, the infielder remained long enough to receive Florida Complex League All-Star honors after the season ended.
What is next?
Much more detail on the FCL Cardinals’ top hitters, relievers and starting pitchers is coming as we select the best of the best in upcoming articles in this series.
Check out The Cardinal Nation’s annual article series highlighting team results and top hitters and pitchers across the entire St. Louis Cardinals system. The Palm Beach Cardinals Team Review is next up.
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